Crystal Palace's Connor Wickham: I've waited years for a boss like Alan Pardew

Strikingly happy: Wickham delighted to be the centre of attention again

Connor Wickham is relishing what he describes as a fresh start at Crystal Palace. A few eyebrows were raised when Palace paid around £8million to sign him from Sunderland in the summer, but the 22-year-old striker is determined to prove his doubters wrong.

Wickham is focused on a bright future and, playing in his favoured centre-forward role under Alan Pardew, wants to make his mark on the Premier League. “It feels like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he tells Standard Sport ahead of tomorrow’s home match against Manchester City.

“My family have sensed a difference in me and it is a relief to have an opportunity to play regular football again. It did not work out at Sunderland but that is in the past and, hopefully, I can start proving people wrong.

“To finally have a manager that will put his faith in me is important. I have wanted that for four years and everything here adds up to something that could be massive.”

Wickham failed to live up to expectations during four seasons at Sunderland, where he was played on the left wing by a succession of managers. He scored 15 goals in 91 appearances for the club, but Pardew saw enough to convince him to spend big and offer him a role through the middle.

“I owe Sunderland a lot, but I was signed as a striker and whenever I was fit I played on the wing,” says Wickham. “There has been a lot of criticism of my performances, but when I have played as a No9 I have shown I can score goals.

“I went on loan to Sheffield Wednesday two years ago, scored goals as a No9 and finally got myself confident again playing in that position. I went back to Sunderland, scored the goals to help keep them up and then was back to playing on the wing.

“I met the manager here before I signed and he said everything I wanted to hear. Having a manager who wants me to play as an out-and-out striker is massive. I can focus on putting the ball in the back of the net.” On the size of the fee Palace paid, Wickham says: “You have to take the rough with the smooth in football. People will always say you are overpriced, but I don’t decide the price.

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“You have to take it on the chin. It is up to me to prove people wrong.”

Pardew believes Wickham has the ability to one day play for England but the player, who has 17 Under-21 caps, is not getting ahead of himself.

“I just have to worry about getting my head down and scoring goals here and hopefully that will warrant a call-up in the future,” says Wickham, who has yet to score for his new club. “Hopefully, if we are still at the top of the table, we will get looked at more, but the main thing is getting a starting position in this team on a weekly basis.”

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill was this week reported to have written to Wickham in a bid to get him to switch nationalities, but the Palace forward has played down the idea. “I know nothing about it,” says Wickham, who is eligible to play for Northern Ireland through his father.

Wickham believes Palace, who are second in the table, can maintain their impressive start to the season when they face City. “Everything is positive for us at the moment and, hopefully, that will continue,” he says. “We know it is not going to be easy tomorrow, but we proved people wrong at Stamford Bridge [Palace beat Chelsea 2-1] and we will make it uncomfortable for City.”